JOINING IN WORSHIP

Every Sunday, we meet at 8:15am and 2:30pm in the Sumas Christian Reformed Church building at 700 Sumas Ave, Sumas, WA 98295 (click for directions).

WHY WE WORSHIP

As a congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we worship together because it is our duty and privilege to praise God. The Bible teaches us the reason God saves us is “that we might be for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12). This is our purpose as God’s people, and it happens in a special way in the worship service. We praise God by listening to the reading and preaching of His Word, singing psalms and hymns to His glory, and offering our gifts in thankfulness for God’s work in us.

NEW TO OUR CHURCH?

When you arrive, park in one of the parking lots on the east or west sides of the church building. Our host family will welcome you once you enter (and would love to host you and your family or friends for lunch after the service, if you’d like!).

Inside, ushers will hand you a liturgy sheet that indicates the order of events during the service. This sheet also lists the songs we’ll sing and the Bible passages the pastor will read and preach about.

During the worship service, we will read from the Bible and sing from the Book of Praise. We have both Bibles and Books of Praise available for use. The ushers will gladly provide you these before you enter the auditorium. Our singing is generally accompanied by piano or organ music.

You’ll notice that many of us dress formally. It’s common to see women in skirts or dresses and men in suits or collared shirts. We view dressing up for church in a similar way to how we would dress for a visit with our President or other dignitaries – to show respect and reverence with our dress and appearance. As guests of our eternal King, we’re honored to put on our “Sunday best.”

Toward the end of the service, we have a collection as part of our worship. With this collection, we support the service of charity in the church. The deacons distribute these gifts to those in need among God’s people in and out of our church. Guests are under no obligation to participate.

After the service, we stick around to chat with each other, sometimes over coffee and baking. When we recognize new faces, we will do our best to introduce ourselves and make guests feel welcome!

If you have other questions about what our church services are like, please get in touch with us.

CHILDCARE DURING WORSHIP

If you’re a family with small kids in tow, you can bring your kids to our infant and toddler nursery. This is a safe, comfortable environment — adjacent to the auditorium in which we worship — where several women care for our kids during the services.

There are plenty of hands for babies who need to be held, a sleeping area for kids who need naps, and age-appropriate toys and books, exersaucers and bouncy chairs.

ORDER OF WORSHIP (LITURGY)

The structure of our worship services, known as the liturgy, is based on biblical practice and principle. Each service is made up of several elements:

  • The opening blessing and greeting are taken from God’s Word

  • The songs we sing are from the Bible’s Psalms and other parts of Scripture put to music

  • The prayers we pray contain praise to God, confession of sin, pleas for forgiveness and blessing, as well as requests for help, healing and guidance

  • The heart of the service centers around the pastor reading God’s Word and preaching about it

  • An offering of financial gifts is gathered to support the needy and other worthy causes in God’s church and kingdom

  • The service concludes with a closing blessing, which is also taken from the Word

In one of the services (usually the afternoon), the Heidelberg Catechism is used as a guideline for the preaching. This means the minister reads one of the Catechism’s 52 Lord’s Days and preaches a sermon on the point of Scriptural teaching summarized in this section of the Catechism.

SACRAMENTS

The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are often celebrated in our worship services.

Shortly after a baby is born, believing parents who are members of our church make a request to have their newborn child baptized among God’s people. Baptism can also be administered to adult converts. This includes reading a form about Baptism, asking the parents questions about their beliefs and baptizing by sprinkling the baby with water. This signifies and seals to us the washing away of our sins through Jesus Christ. This baptism is a sign of God’s covenant with us and not a sign of our faith.

We also celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper six times per year (once every two months beginning in January) with our professing members and guests previously admitted by our church leaders. We read a form to remember what Jesus has done for us, examine our hearts and remind ourselves how we are to live until He returns. The visible sign of this remembrance is in our members’ eating bread and drinking wine as symbols of Christ’s body and blood poured out for us.

Looking to listen to or download the latest sermons preached in our church?